Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Now that he knew that Drake's time left alive was short, Anakin felt a little bad--maybe--about yelling at the guy for his taste in earwormy pop tunes.

Which was why, after his weekly spar with Ben, he came into his office and shut the door.

But the damage was already done: when he wasn't paying attention, he found himself humming along with Lady Gaga.

Stupid everything.

Comments

[sith_happened]

"Don't think," Anakin replied. "React. How would you feel?"

He reached into the Force and gave a little nudge against Raven's inner shielding.

[trigons_child]

Raven closed her eyes, remembering how her father had destroyed Xynthia and all its people. She'd felt the sudden end of all that life, and it had cracked her shields, letting so much suffering creep into her soul. If it had been Earth or Azarath...it would have been like the loss of her mother a thousandfold. She'd tried to lock away that pain, but it came bubbling up now, twisting her stomach. With it came the overwhelming desire to make her father pay, and when she felt the touch upon her shields, she recoiled with a snarl.

[sith_happened]

"Good," Anakin said softly. "Now regain control."

[trigons_child]

It wasn't too difficult. She knew this was just memory and imagination; it wasn't real. But she still clenched her hands into fists and grit her teeth as she reined the emotions back in, locking them back down.

She opened her eyes again and looked at Anakin. "I am all right," she said.

[sith_happened]

"Very good," Anakin praised with a smile.

[trigons_child]

"But it was not real," Raven said, though she almost preened at his praise.

[sith_happened]

"We're going to start out easy," Anakin said, "and ramp up to situations that feel real."

[trigons_child]

That made sense, and it put her more at ease. "Then I am pleased I did well to start," she said.

[sith_happened]

He grinned. "Did you think I was going to start out with a kidnapping?" he teased.

[trigons_child]

"I was not certain," Raven admitted, blushing a little. "I was too worried about what would happen if I was not able to control the passions of my father's blood."

[sith_happened]

"When I have the time, I prefer to not drop people into disasters and see what happens," he said, eyes twinkling. "I learned that lesson the hard way after my first apprentice."

[trigons_child]

"I think you still indulge just a little bit with your classes," Raven said teasingly, relaxing more now. "But what happened with your apprentice?"

[sith_happened]

"Hell if I know Well, it was a war," Anakin said, looking a little pained.

[trigons_child]

"I am sorry, I did not mean to bring back bad memories," Raven said sympathetically.

[sith_happened]

He waved his hand dismissively. "It was a long time ago," he said, "though I do wonder if she's going to show up a picnic one of these days."

[trigons_child]

"I hope so, if that would be a good thing for you," Raven said. If it wasn't, she might have to vanquish her. Shhh.

[sith_happened]

"She was kind of--" Anakin searched for a diplomatic way to put it, "--incredibly irritating."

He couldn't find one.

[trigons_child]

"She was not a good student?" Raven said. "How foolish of her to waste the opportunity to learn from you."

She didn't mean to be so shameless, it just happened that way.

[sith_happened]

"She was impulsive and bossy and always had to be right," Anakin said.

So...exactly like him.

[trigons_child]

Not that Raven would see it that way!

"At least she gave you practice for dealing with some of the students in Fandom?" she said. She knew several of them would fall into that category.

[sith_happened]

"Most of them," Anakin commented dryly. "I think it's a teenager thing."

[trigons_child]

"Teenagers think they know everything," Raven said with a tiny smile. "Sometimes I feel strange because I do not think that way."

[sith_happened]

"It's a refreshing change of pace," he said with a smile. "I know I was a stubborn moron when I was your age."

[trigons_child]

"I cannot believe that," Raven said, shaking her head and laughing lightly.

[sith_happened]

"Oh, I didn't know it at the time," Anakin said, laughing, "but looking back it is really quite clear."